Forbidden Plateau Obedience & Tracking Club

Monday, 5 October 2015

Forbidden Plateau Obedience & Tracking Club held its annual CKC Obedience Trials competition on September 26 & 27 at Union Bay Hall. The Judges were Karen Graham Banman of Moosejaw Saskatchewan, and Eva O’Keefe of Edmonton Alberta. Competitors came from Victoria area, Nanaimo, the Comox Valley, and the Central Cariboo area.

On September 26, under Judge Eva O’Keefe, Trial 1 was won by Jackie Boyd of Courtenay out of the Open B class, with her Vizsla “Couper”. 2nd in Trial went to Lori Yarrow of Courtenay and her Sheltie mix, “Frida” out of the Novice B class.

Trial 2 on September 26, under Judge Karen Graham Banman was won by June Kerr of Courtenay out of the Novice A class with her Labrador Retriever “Ziva”. 2nd in Trial went to Jo Anne Sukut and her Papillon “Ryder” out of the Novice B class.

On September 27, under Judge Karen Graham Banman, Trial 3 was won by Blair Kilgour of Saanichton and his Vizsla “Ziva” out of the Open B class. 2nd in Trial went to Angela Gilbert of Courtenay and her American Staffordshire Terrier “Chianti” out of the Novice B class.

Trial 4 on September 27, under Judge Eva O’Keefe, was won again by Blair Kilgour of Saanichton, with his Vizla “Ziva” out of the Utility class, and 2nd in Trial went to June Kerr of Courtenay and her Labrador Retriever, also called “Ziva” out of the Novice A class.

Our FPO&TC member High in Trial winners Jackie Boyd and June Kerr both require the use of walkers, and these handlers did a fantastic job of demonstrating that precision Obedience can be done well by a handler facing physical challenges. June and Jackie are an inspiration to their fellow competitors.

Other members of FPO&TC were successful too, with 5 teams completing their Companion Dog Titles, and 3 teams earning their first scores toward Companion Dog Excellent Titles. The Club can is proud of its members earning 2 High in Trials, 4 2nd in Trials, and several High in Class Rosettes.

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

FPO&TC had its Annual Awards on Thursday bringing a close to our year of Club activities. It was a wonderful potluck, and hosted by Linda Page, thank you Linda for welcoming us to your home and warming us with your amazing fireplace!

Our Awards committee, Margot Jorgensen, Sheila Kenny, Linda Page and Lisa Christensen did a great job of getting the trophies and pins organized and over to Kim Luyten for engraving.

This year the Club wanted to recognize and honour those Founding Members who are still active with FPO&TC today, Wendy Wallace, JoAnne McLeod and Darlene Gordon. These ladies lit the spark that became FPO&TC. I think they must have all been pre-teens when they started this Club :-)

There were many pins earned by Club members in 2013 for earning Titles in Obedience, Tracking or Rally Obedience. It's fantastic to see so many members participating in multiple venues of competition with their dogs. Title pins were were applied for and received by:

Pre - Companion Dog (PCD) Title

JoAnne McLeod and "Cash" Papillon

Aldean Riddy and "Theo" Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Aldean Riddy and "Izzy" Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Aldean Riddy and "Polly" Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Aldean Riddy and "Jazz" Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Companion Dog (CD) Title

JoAnne Sukut and "Simon" Cavalier King Charles

Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) Title

Arlene Bishop and "Sassy" Miniature Schnauzer

Tracking Dog (TD) Title

Sue Sorensen and "Penny" Golden Retriever

JoAnne McLeod and "Cash" Papillon

Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX) Title

Lesley Kenyon and "Bear" Golden Retriever

JoAnne McLeod and "Cash" Papillon

Urban Tracking Dog (UTD) Title

Angela Gilbert and "Chianti" American Staffordshire Terrier

Rally Novice (RN) Title

Wendy Wallace and "Rumour" Papillon

Pam Burton and "Tango" Australian Shepherd

JoAnne McLeod and "Cash" Papillon

Aldean Riddy and "Theo" Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Aldean Riddy and "Izzy" Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Aldean Riddy and "Polly" Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Aldean Riddy and "Jazz" Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Rally Advanced (RA) Title

Liz McKenzie and "Rory" Border Terrier

Aldean Riddy and "Polly" Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Rally Excellent (RE) Title

Angela Gilbert and "Chianti" American Staffordshire Terrier

Liz McKenzie and Aldean Riddy receive their RA Pins

Lesley Kenyon and JoAnne McLeod receiving their TDX Pins

Two happy TD Pin recipients Sue Sorensen and JoAnne Mcleod

The Von Avent Trophy for Highest Qualifying CD was won by Linda Page and Labrador "Dart", as did the Tsolumside Trophy for Highest Aggregate Score for a Sporting Dog and the Effort trophy. Well done Linda and Dart!

Eight teams applied for and share the Princess Temperament Trophy this year, for earning a CGN in 2013. The recipients were

A Special Award was prepared for Vida Ross and her Golden Retriever Ellee in order to recognize this team for earning their Obedience Trial Champion Title (OTCH), a very challenging Title to achieve. As Vida was unable to make it to the party, this will be presented at a later date. Congratulations Vida on a fantastic achievement.

The Awards night brought an end to our 40th Anniversary celebrations. Congratulations to all members of FPO&TC on the goals each of you have achieved this year and on the steps you have taken toward your future goals. Thank you again to the Trophy Committee and our "host with the most" Linda Page for organizing our evening of great food and warm company. Thank you Arlene Bishop for providing the photos for this post and Maureen Ashbaugh for providing us with some hilarious entertainment.

We had absolutely fantastic weather for the Downtown Courtenay Christmas Parade yesterday. This year the theme was Winter Wonderland, but we had sunshine and mild temperatures. It seemed like there was a great turnout this year and the crowd was enthusiastic!

There was a nice variety of breeds represented in FPO&TC. We were right near the front of the parade, behind the dignitaries, and there were lots of ooohs and ahhs and applause for our dogs. Some of the dogs acted as the meet and greet crew, while others showed off some tricks and obedience skills.

Afterward headed to Simm's Park to take a group photo. We sensibly, in my camera shy opinion, opted to take a photo of the dogs, not the handlers, and look at those dogs sitting for the camera. Now that's a group stay!

Thank you to the organizers and sponsors of the Parade, and to the people who came out to cheer on the participants - we had a blast!

Monday, 21 October 2013

Forbidden Plateau Obedience & Tracking Club member volunteers focus much of their energy on hosting our events, seminars and on teaching Obedience classes. One of our favorite things to do however, if the opportunity presents itself and we have members available, is demonstrations in the community.

This week we were lucky enough to be able demonstrate some of our dogs' skills and talk about how to interact safely with dogs for a First Grade class at Arden Elementary, thanks to member Sheila Kenny and teacher Colleen Devlin.

The students were a wonderful audience for our dogs, and listened carefully while Sheila spoke to them about standing like a tree instead of flapping like a bird, and how to greet and pet a dog safely. We demonstrated some obedience, a few tricks, and a field dog finding a "lost" (planted out of sight by a couple of student helpers) bumper.

The dogs had fun, I think the children had fun, and we had fun - a winning situation all around. Thank you Arden Elementary and Colleen for inviting us!

Sheila with Story Golden Retriever talking to very attentive students about not flapping like a bird while Schipperke Dylan and Ruth Bridges and Standard Poodle Donovan and Margot Jorgensen look on.

Sunday, 20 October 2013

Dogs are such wonderful creatures, and most are quite willing, with the right motivation, to work with their humans and learn to play at our dog sports, at least to some extent. Many of us who love dog sports participate in more than one, though most of us have a core couple that we compete in. It can be difficult enough to excel and earn advanced achievements in one area, let alone several.

Once in awhile though, a dog and handler team comes along who just have such a wonderful and extraordinary combination of relationship and work ethic that they excel in more than one arena. Donovan, a Standard Poodle bred by FPO&TC member Suzanne Loblaw and handled and loved by FPO&TC member Margot Jorgensen is one of those incredible dogs. Donovan's name with all of his attached Titles is a handful:

"As a 12 week pup in JoAnne’s puppy class Dono looked up at
me and asked “what can I do for you?” That has been his lifelong attitude and
together we’ve experienced so many activities, some for Titles (obedience,
tracking, agility and hunt) and others like herding, draft and nosework, just
for fun. He is awesome and I am blessed." says Margot.

As are we fellow members blessed for having the opportunity to watch Margot and Donovan's journey, observe and admire their relationship and Donovan's honest work ethic. Dono as a senior dog still enjoys working with Margot, enjoying Agility, Nosework, the occasional Veteran's Obedience class and community demos. He still looks up at Margot and asks what he can do for her today, just as he did as a much younger competitor. Congratulations Margot on all of your achievements with Donovan, and on the wonderful relationship the two of you share.

Monday, 16 September 2013

The following is part of an article written by one of our Founding Club Members, Wendy Wallace, that was published in the Comox Valley Echo in July 2013. The part of the article advertising our Canine Good Neighbour Test and 40th Anniversary Party has been edited out as the test has been completed - with 21 of 22 dogs passing! The remainder of the article is posted below, giving a little history of Forbidden Plateau Obedience & Tracking Club. Along with Wendy, other Founding Members include Jo Anne McLeod, Darlene Gordon, Carol Snaith & Marion Hespe. Wendy, Jo Anne, and Darlene are still active members of FPO&TC today, and the rest of the Membership thanks them for starting this wonderful, active Club that allows us to have so much fun with our dogs and our friends.

If you have owned a dog and taken it to obedience classes
sometime in the past forty years, it is
most likely that you trained with the Forbidden Plateau Obedience and Tracking
Club (FPO&TC).

Founded in 1973 by a small group of dog obedience and
tracking enthusiasts, the Club has trained thousands of local dogs and their
owners over the years. Most owners have taken classes simply to improve their
dog’s behaviour while others have joined the Club, taken part competitions and
in many cases gone on to become dog trainers themselves.

Initially the Club’s classes were held at the rec center in
Comox; its first licensed obedience trials
trials took place at the base skating rink. Later trials were held at various
schools – Courtenay Secondary and Vanier. Currently they are held second
weekend in September at Queenish school.

Teaching dogs to find articles by following a person’s scent
was also an early interest of Club members and it was not long before the club
was hosting tracking seminars and tracking tests. Initially the Club held field
tracking tests in March of each year. These took place on local farms, thanks
to the kindness of farmers who were willing to let the club have the use of
their fields for two days. This generosity was greatly appreciated by the Club
which gained a reputation in the tracking community for holding well organized
tests on excellent grounds.

In more recent years the Club has expanded its interest in
two other areas of the dog sport world – urban tracking and Rally
Obedience. Urban tracking test are held
annually and take place in urban environments such as schools, rec centers and
the college. They test the dog’s ability to follow a scent through well-
traveled and busy areas. The club is very proud of the fact that the first
three Urban tracking titles where earned by two club members and their dogs.

Rally obedience is similar to regular obedience but requires
the dog and handler to follow a numbered
course, with each number setting out specific skills to be performed.

Formal competitions have not been the entire focus for club
members. Over the past forty years club members have taken part in local
parades, visited schools, entertained at the local fall fairs and provided
demonstrations of trained dogs and training methods for the community. In the
early years they organized and ran a children’s pet show at the CRA.

Each year the club also makes a sizable financial donation
to local charities or person’s in need.

Founding Member Wendy Wallace and her dog Tammy

Entrants in the 40th Anniversary Parade of Veterans at our CKC Obedience Trials. Among them is Wendy, in yellow.